does not mean that Allah must forbid all believers whatever these people are unaccustomed to, or permit all believers whatever they are accustomed to. How could it, when the Arabs were accustomed to eating blood, carrion, and other things that Allah Most High has forbidden?

An Arab was once asked, “What do you eat?”

He replied, “Everything that crawls or walks, except Umm Hubayn (a small lizard-like creature).”

The questioner said, “Then may Umm Hubayn enjoy being spared!”

Quraysh themselves used to eat foul things that Allah has forbidden, while finding repugnant foods that Allah has not forbidden. The two Sahīh collections relate:

“The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was served spiny-tailed lizard meat, but he withdrew his hand and did not eat. He was asked, ‘Is it forbidden, Messenger of Allah?’ He replied, ‘No, but it is not found in the land of my people, so I find myself averse to it.’”

It is therefore clear that the aversion of Quraysh or others to a particular food does not warrant prohibiting it for believers among all other Arabs and non-Arabs. Moreover, neither the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, nor any of his Companions prohibited whatever the Arabs disliked or permitted everything the Arabs ate.

Allah Most High says:

“He makes lawful for them what is wholesome and forbids them what is foul.”

This foretells that he would do so. Accordingly, the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, permitted wholesome things and prohibited foul things, such as every fanged beast of prey and every bird with talons. These creatures are aggressive and predatory. When people eat them—and food resembles the one who consumes it—their character becomes tinged with the traits of these beasts, namely oppression and aggression. Likewise, he prohibited blood poured forth, because it is where the appetitive and irascible faculties of the soul are concentrated, and an increase in it causes these faculties to run rampant